Just writing about this to post on
our website…
Your out of the boat in the surf. Swimming in or swimming it out of impact zone or just trying to duck the set, common sense tells you to at least try to hang on to it for a couple waves if you can. How is one supposed to hang onto a twisting boat via one of those stiff, arm wrenching rubber handles ??? I think the folks who spec those should give them a try in the surf. Unless they have some bull riding backround, they will soon realize their folly.
Hanging onto to a toggle in the surf lets the boat rotate on its own into a less projected area orientation…
Now the toggle should also be as close to the end of the boat as possible, be drilled such that a finger cannot get caught between it’s loop (Remember Sniper movie?) and that loop should also be long enough to let the writhing boat rotate however it wants without winding up the line to crank ones knuckles against the boat. Not really poss. on the stern with ruddered boats … but all can have this “New Feature” on the bow.
We just double the loop/toggle (clove hitch?) through itself so a person can easily remove it tool free if they want.
Is maytagged and East coast word?
Long ago industry safety types set specs for leashes.... they are 'supposed' to break before you pass out..... ha ha. IMO, if you have to bail out of the boat in the surf (ASSuming you are playing / wanting to be there for a while, not just coming in or getting spit back in after a failed launch) , there is not an easier, safer, less effort way to keep the boat with you than a leash attached to the paddle- attached to the boat.
Whoa, bail out.... just hang onto that stick in your hands, fly like superman until you get feet forward to kick out. You are now a deep water anchor. Boat goes over the falls, bunjis back to you, paddle is right there.
Why swim all the way in , possibly kill some other surf user or even let go of the one thing that you might actually need to save yourself?
I have watched Deliverance enough times to see what can happen ;)
I hope people can agree, a person should exercise caution in surf and should be experienced enough to know when things really ARE going to be bad, that then they might think about pitching the equipment. These same people would also know how to do so without any chance of entanglement.
Long ago I paddled (surfboard) out in post (hurricane Gloria i think) conditions......I was way WAY over my head skill wise and only wanted to get out there and take a look around....
Made it out only to find now I had to get back in before river like longshore took me under pier.
With no real big wave experience I took off on a wave that I though I could make.... no way.
Actually got pinned on the bottom for a couple seconds on the wipe out.... whoa, that got my heart thumping.... not going to make it back out before getting washed under pier now (swell direction punching under pier too late to head in).... decided to keep the board with me .... now almost under pier and another set comes through, I duck under only to come up short for the surface ( heart pounding again ) I lunge for the surface twice more before reaching down and calmly undoing the velcro on the leash ( leash/board around piling).... Both board and paddler pop back up, get aided/washed out in a rip along side the pier, paddle way back out and along shore back to dry land. Leash almost got me but in the end saved me as I do not think I could have made the long swim out and along shore and do not like to think about going under pier.
MayTag = Washing Machine…
as being put in the rinse cycle. Sound like you got maytagged pretty good... :)
It's an extraordinary beating to get maytagged on big plunging waves. Getting literally driven to the ocean bottom, spinning, spinning... Not knowing when you'll come back up for air. When you do, you can expect to have it happen all over again while you're in the break zone. Then you don't know if you have the energy left to make the swim. You pray you're not in a rip, or that the offshore wind is not stronger than the waves that are pushing you in.
If you can hang onto a boat with adequate floatation, you don't get held under as long. Once out of the break zone, whether headed out to sea, or towards shore, that boat is reassuring and can provide a means for getting to safety quicker or something to plop on partially to get rest and/or your head and neck out of the cold water. By now, one would be gasping for air from repeated rinse cycles and the coldness is speeding the breathing to near hyperventilation levels...
sing
Fins And Tow Line…?
Seriously, who has swam their boat through surf using fins and tow line? Hutchinson, you, who?
I can't imagine how one would don surf fins while in the break zone. I definitely would be less than sanguine (not that I am in big plunging surf anyway ;) ) about having 25-50' feet of loose line around me in between sets, waiting for the right moment to entangle me when the boat shoots off with a wave...
The only person I know who carries fins in his boat is Sanjay. He is talking about the contingency of losing his boat in open water and having to make a long swim back to land.
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There’s a big difference…
...between a short leash from one's wrist to the paddle and a long leash between the paddle and boat.
I've used the former without problems. Entanglement with one is really not an issue and they are easy to slip off one's wrist if necessary.
I tried a few versions of the leash to the boat and it was a pain in the ass even for normal paddling. The "phone cord" types are the worst, as they snag on everything. There's no way I'd risk having one on in rough water where there was a significant risk of capsizing and getting pummeled.